Kerry-world disputes Mitt analogy, cont'd

3/14/12 9:46 AM EDT

John Kerry took issue earlier this month with the ubiquitous comparison between himself and Mitt Romney -- another presidential candidate from Massachusetts who has struggled to allay doubts about his sincerity and relatability.

Today, former Kerry campaign spokesman David Wade criticizes the analogy from a more political angle, pointing out in the Boston Herald that Kerry was embraced by his party as a potentially formidable nominee in a way Romney never has been:

John Kerry didn’t limp to the Democratic nomination. Nor did he struggle consolidating his base the way Romney has. ... Despite mounting his second consecutive Iowa campaign, Romney was edged out [in Iowa] by a former Pennsylvania senator who’d lost his last statewide campaign by a whopping 19 points. Both Kerry and Romney went on to triumph in neighboring New Hampshire. But Kerry’s Granite State triumph — 12 points ahead of fellow New Englander Dean — continued his momentum for the remaining contests, whereas Romney stumbled into a blowout South Carolina loss that made suspect his ability to coalesce the Republicans.

Kerry went on to amass a won-loss record of 46-4. By July, Kerry-Edwards was besting Bush-Cheney nationally in NBC, CBS, Rasmussen, Zogby and AP polls.

Whereas Romney saw failed conservative rivals like Herman Cain and Rick Perry sign on to the campaigns of more conservative candidates, Kerry earned the endorsements of rivals Gephardt, Edwards, Dean, Clark, and Lieberman. The party was unified behind the nominee. There was no talk of a brokered convention or — after Iowa — any discussion of drafting an alternative candidate into the race.

A Romney-Obama may end up looking a lot like the Kerry-Bush campaign, in that it would likely be a close race fought over the fundamentals of the state of the nation, with one candidate buoyed by incumbency and the other hobbled by personal political shortcomings. But for the purposes of the primary, Wade's right and he's making a version of a point Republicans have made privately over the last few months: even the seriously flawed Kerry earned the respect and support of his party, and persuaded much of the country that he could be a strong challenger for Bush, in a way that Romney has not matched.